Cooperative audio frequency reproduction for speaker devices

Abstract

Techniques and solutions are provided for improving teleconference audio. For a first speaker device, one or more frequencies are determined where the first speaker device provides poor audio quality, such as due to vibration or echo distortion. One or more attenuation values are determined for the first speaker device to compensate for the poor audio quality. One or more values for increasing the gain of the one or more frequencies at a second speaker device are determined, where the one or more values are selected to compensation for attenuation of the one or more frequencies at the first speaker device. The one or more frequency attenuation values and the one or more frequency gain increase values are applied to audio rendered at the first and second speaker devices during a teleconference.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computing system comprising:
 at least one memory;   at least one hardware processor coupled to the at least one memory; and   one or more computer readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, that, when executed, cause the computing system to perform audio configuration operations that improve audio quality, the audio configuration operations comprising:   generating a first audio configuration signal;   sending the first audio configuration signal to be rendered by a first speaker device;   receiving first audio output generated by the first speaker device in response to the first audio configuration signal;   performing digital processing on the first audio output to generate at least a first value for at least a first audio quality metric;   using the at least a first value for the at least a first audio quality metric, determining at least a first value for attenuating at least a first audio frequency;   storing the at least a first value in association with an identifier of the first speaker device; and   determining at least a first gain compensation for a second speaker device for the at least a first audio frequency, wherein a value of the at least a first gain compensation is determined using the at least a first value for attenuating the at least a first audio frequency.   
     
     
         2 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first audio output is recorded by a first microphone of the first speaker device. 
     
     
         3 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first audio configuration signal generates at least one frequency within each of multiple frequency bands. 
     
     
         4 . The computing system of  claim 3 , wherein the multiple frequency bands comprise a low frequency band, a middle frequency band, and a high frequency band. 
     
     
         5 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least a first audio frequency is within a range of 20 Hz to 250 Hz. 
     
     
         6 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least a first audio quality metric characterizes mechanical vibration in the first speaker device. 
     
     
         7 . The computing system of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 receiving a request to initiate a teleconferencing software application;   determining that the first speaker device and the second speaker device are used by the teleconferencing software application;   retrieving the at least a first value for attenuating the at least a first frequency and the value of the at least a first gain compensation;   rendering audio for a teleconference, the rendering comprising receiving an audio signal;   attenuating the at least a first audio frequency in the audio signal and sending an attenuated audio signal to the first speaker device; and   increasing a gain of the at least a first audio frequency in the audio signal and sending a gain-increased audio signal, having the at least a first gain compensation value applied to the at least a first audio frequency, to the second speaker device.   
     
     
         8 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least a first quality metric characterizes echo distortion in the first speaker device. 
     
     
         9 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first audio configuration signal comprises a step sweep signal or a chirp signal. 
     
     
         10 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the second speaker device reproduces low frequency sounds with less distortion than the first speaker device for a same sound pressure level. 
     
     
         11 . The computing system of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 generating a second audio configuration signal, where the second audio configuration signal is the first audio configuration signal or is different than the first audio configuration signal;   sending the second audio configuration signal to be rendered by the second speaker device;   receiving second audio output generated by the second speaker device in response to the second audio configuration signal;   performing digital processing on the second audio output to generate at least a second value for at least a second audio quality metric, wherein the at least a second audio quality metric is the at least a first audio quality metric or is an audio quality metric different than the at least a first audio quality metric;   using the at least a second value for the at least a second audio quality metric, determining at least a second value for attenuating at least a second audio frequency;   storing the at least a second value in association with an identifier of the second speaker device; and   determining at least a second gain compensation for the first speaker device for the at least a second audio frequency, where a value of the at least a second gain compensation is determined using the at least a second value for attenuating the at least a second audio frequency.   
     
     
         12 . The computing system of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 after receiving the first audio output, applying echo compensation to the first audio output to provide first echo-compensated audio output, wherein the digital processing is performed on the first echo-compensated audio output.   
     
     
         13 . A method of improving audio quality, implemented in a computing system comprising at least one memory and at least one hardware processor coupled to the at least one memory, the method comprising:
 receiving a request to initiate a teleconferencing software application;   determining that a first speaker device and a second speaker device are used by the teleconferencing software application;   retrieving at least a first value for attenuating at least a first frequency at the first speaker device;   retrieving at least a second value for increasing a gain of the at least a first frequency at the second speaker device, wherein the at least a second value is selected to compensate at least in part for attenuating the at least a first frequency at the first speaker device;   rendering audio for a teleconference, the rendering comprising receiving an audio signal;   attenuating the at least a first frequency in the audio signal and sending an attenuated audio signal to the first speaker device; and   increasing the gain of the at least a first frequency in the audio signal and sending a gain-increased audio signal, having the at least a second value applied to the at least a first frequency, to the second speaker device.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the second speaker device reproduces low frequency sounds with less distortion than the first speaker device for a same sound pressure level. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising determining the at least a first value and the at least a second value by:
 generating a first audio configuration signal;   sending the first audio configuration signal to be rendered by the first speaker device;   receiving first audio output generated by the first speaker device in response to the first audio configuration signal;   performing digital processing on the first audio output to generate at least a first value for at least a first audio quality metric;   using the at least a first value for the at least a first audio quality metric, determining the least a first value for attenuating at least a first audio frequency;   storing the at least a first value in association with an identifier of the first speaker device; and   determining the at least a second value, wherein the at least a second value is determined using the at least a first value for attenuating the at least a first audio frequency.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least a first audio quality metric characterizes mechanical vibration in the first speaker device. 
     
     
         17 . One or more computer-readable storage media comprising:
 computer-executable instruction that, when executed by a computing system comprising at least one hardware processor and at least one memory coupled to the at least one hardware processor, cause the computing system to determine a first value for attenuating at least a first frequency of an audio signal;   computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to determine a second value for increasing a gain of the at least a first frequency of the audio signal that compensates for attenuating the at least a first frequency of the audio signal;   computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to receive a request to initiate a teleconferencing software application;   computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to render the audio signal at a first speaker device while applying the first value; and   computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to render the audio signal at a second speaker device while applying the first value concurrently with rendering the audio signal at the first speaker device, whereby the applying the first value and the applying the second value provide improved audio quality by reducing vibration or distortion at the first speaker device.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to receive first audio output generated by the first speaker device in response to a first audio configuration signal;   computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to perform digital processing on the first audio output to generate at least a first value for at least a first audio quality metric; and   computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to, using the at least a first value for the at least a first audio quality metric, determine the first value.   
     
     
         19 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 18 , wherein the first audio quality metric measures distortion in the first audio output. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 17 , wherein the second value is calculated using the first value.